Questionable Content: One time at the NRRD convent
by shanejayell
Summary: As Marigold and Hannelore go to the NRRD convention, things change. YURI/Femslash later.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters or concepts from Questionable Content, they all belong to Jeph Jacques. I am just borrowing the characters temporarily, with no harm meant and hopefully none caused. This fanfic also contains femslash concepts, so if that is not your thing, I'd suggest skipping it.

Questionable Content: One time at the NRRD convention.

Marigold felt a degree of amusement as the brown haired young woman in the Totoro cap, 'Yaoi Zone' t-shirt and NERV bag lead Hannelore through the crowds. "The NRRD-con isn't quite like a real anime con," she told her conversationally, "there's too much non-anime stuff going on. But I think this'll help get your feet wet."

Hannelore made a face, "I don't want to get my feet wet." As Marigold gave her a look Hannelore smiled, "Joking."

Marigold laughed quietly, the two stopping at the side of the hall a moment to consult the guide book. "We've got a few hours till the 'Magical Love Gentleman' panel and trivia contest. What would you like to do?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," Hannelore admitted.

"There's a showing of the Haruhi series," Marigold gestured to her coat, "the dealer's room will be opening soon, there's a AMV room and Yuricon has a room too."

"Yuricon?" Hannelore looked blank.

"How about we hit the dealer's room first," Marigold suggested, "the best buys will go pretty quickly. Not to mention any of the 'Magical Love Gentleman' dojins."

"What's a dojin?" Hannelore asked, copying her pronunciation.

"Japan has different copyright laws than North America does," Marigold told her as they made their way down the hall and over to the line up for the Dealer's Room, "because of that, the anime companies there allow fans to produce their own comics of the series."

Hannelore's eyes widened in excitement, then narrowed as she asked, "So anyone can make a 'Magical Love Gentleman' dojin? Anyone at all?"

"You see the problem," Marigold congradulated her. "Behind some very pretty covers is some very unpleasant stuff." She calmly ignored a fanboy looking to cut into line as she continued, "You need to learn the names of artists or groups of artists that make stuff you like."

"You'll have to help me," Hannelore admitted. With that she began to tick off the things that she did not want to read about, including but not limited to poop, pee, the eating of same, blood, cutting and several other topics.

"I can think of a few books I won't show you," Marigold agreed.

As the line shuffled forward they watched a young women wearing cat ears making her way up the line, handing out fliers. As she reached then she handed one to Hannelore then smiled wryly at Marigold, "Long time no see."

"Hi, Tai," Marigold waved unenthusiastically.

"Still upset I tried to hit on you?" Tai asked her cheerfully as she moved forward with them in the line.

"You what?!" Hannelore gasped.

"It wasn't that bad!" Marigold reassured her friend before tossing Tai a glare. "She put her hand up my thigh at a anime convention we went to," she explained.

"And a nice thigh it was, too," Tai sighed. "Alas, it was not to be," she said dramatically.

Hannelore looked at Tai a moment then had to smile as she conceded, "I like her."

"Most people do," Marigold had to admit as she cracked a smile too.

"Here," Tai passed a flier to Marigold, "I kinda got roped into running the Yuricon room. Come on by, we actually have some decent shows this time."

"Well, Heroic Girl Usagi was good," Marigold admitted, "and Emily isn't bad...."

"Emma?" Hannelore asked.

Tai shook her head, "No, Emily. It's a animated version of the life of Emily Dickinson."

"Ah," Hannelore blinked. "But she was a gay shut in?"

"She has a lot of guests in this series," Tai said with a devilish smirk.

"Oy," Marigold shook her head as they neared the door to the dealer's room. "If I promise to go will you stop teasing me?" she asked.

"I dunno...," Tai looked indecisive then laughed. "Okay, I'll see you later," she said, cat walking away to hand out more fliers.

Hannelore looked at Marigold curiously as they finally reached the doors of the dealer's room. "So where you," she hesitated, looking for the right words, "tempted?"

"I can't believe you asked that!" Marigold exclaimed. She gave Hannelore a odd look, "I thought this stuff squicked you out?"

Hannelore looked embarrassed, "You know I'm compulsive about research."

"Eh?" Marigold looked blank.

"Well, when you factor in safe sex like gloves, dental dams and the saran wrap, it's actually pretty hygenic," Hannelore explained.

There was a long beat of dead silence as several members of the con staff, the people in line and Marigold all digested that. "Can we go in now?" Marigold asked the staff, deciding it was safer than continuing this train of thought.

"Go ahead," the woman waved them in, the expression on her face a interesting mix of amused and thoughtful.

"I think you broke her mind," Marigold sighed.

Hannelore smiled sweetly as she called back, "Sorry!"

The two women razed the dealer's room like twin vikings.... well, no, not quite. More accurately Marigold lead the charge, homing in on the best 'Magical Love Gentleman' books and splitting them with Hannelore. Then they drifted over to the t-shirts and other items, accumulating several items.

"I like the tsundere shirt," Marigold snickered as they left the room, "who's it for?"

"Faye," Hannelore smiled back. "Do you think she'll get it?"

"If not, she'll be sure to search wikipedia," Marigold predicted wisely.

Hannelore giggled softly at that. "How long until the 'Magical Love Gentleman' panel?" she asked as they walked past the line of people still waiting a turn in the dealer's room.

"Still a few hours," Marigold said as she checked her watch and the schedule. "There's a showing for 'Clannable' and 'Encription Geass' on, and Tai's Yuricon room will be running too."

"You did proimise Tai we'd stop in," Hannelore shrugged. "Which anime is playing now?"

Marigold checked the guide, "Chrome Angel Kurumi is just ending. If we hurry we can catch 'Heroic Girl Usagi's' first episode."

"All right," Hannelore shrugged slightly, "let's go see 'Heroic Girl Usagi' then."

To be continued....

Notes: Did 'mangled' versions of several anime series, since Jeph doesn't have 'name brand' anime in the QC universe. Haruhi = Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Heroic Girl Usagi = Revolutionary Girl Utena and Emily is kinda a spoof on Emma.

Yuricon is in fact a real organization, that started out holding a virtual convention online, then moved into real world activities. Including having volunteers run Yuricon events at various conventions. Since Tai seems out at work, it didn't seem out of character for her to do something like that....


	2. Chapter 2

Questionable Content: One time at the NRRD convention.

Two

"Oh wow," Hannelore muttered, having that slightly dazed look you got when you marathoned too much mind bending anime.

"So what did you think of Heroic Girl Usagi?" Marigold asked curiously.

"Beautiful, if a bit confusing," Hannelore admitted.

Marigold smirked, "That is actually a pretty good description."

"Hey, Marigold! Hannelore, I didn't expect to see you here," Dora noted, the manager of Coffee of Doom carrying a tray which was mostly empty. A few forlorn cups of coffee sat on it, looking ather forlorn really.

"Dora, what are you doing here?" Marigold blinked.

"Well, my girlfriend is running the yuricon panel, so..." Dora shrugged.

"Oh, that makes sense," Marigold started then blinked, "Girlfriend?"

"She's dating Tai. You didn't know?" Hannelore asked curiously.

"No, I did not know," Marigold complained.

"You need to hang out more at Coffee of Doom," Dora advised. She picked up a cup, "Have a coffee sample."

"So you're handing out samples too?" Hannelore asked curiously.

"It's my official reason for being here, and also a good excuse to leave Faye minding the store," Dora winked.

"Good coffee," Marigold admitted. A bit hesitantly she asked, "You were dating Martin, right? How did...?"

"Long story," Dora admitted, then sketched in the details.

"That's kind of romantic, really," Hannelore admitted.

"How's Martin doing?" Marigold asked predictably.

"I think he's okay," Dora admitted, "hopefully we can go back to being friends."

Up front Tai was announcing the next show, so everyone settled down into their seats.

"I think I could get to like yuri," Hannelore conceded as the two women left the show a little while later. As Marigold gave her a look Hannelore blushed, "Not the way you're thinking."

Marigold snickered. "They do a good job with plot and story," she agreed, "tho for some reason they're less popular than yaoi titles like Magical Love Gentleman. No idea why."

"Well, I think I wouldn't mind seeing a few others," Hannelore nodded. "Any suggestions?"

"There's Little Magi Matilda Magica," Marigold mused, "and Soldier Moon is good too. Let's se what we can find in the dealers room."

"Sounds good," Hannelore agreed.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Meanwhile, back in the Yuricon room, Dora was relating her conversation with Marigold to Tai. "She took it pretty well, actually," she mused.

"Hannelore too, though I guess she hangs around Coffee of Doom enough to know about us," Tai nodded.

"They'd be kinda cute together," Dora noted thoughtfully.

"Oh no," Tai shook her head, "we are NOT trying to matchmake them. Besides, didn't Marigold have a thing for Angus?"

"Doesn't mean she couldn't be bi," Dora said knowledgably. God knew she knew what she was talking about. "Besides, have you seen how protective she is of Hannelore?"

"EVERYBODY does that," Tai noted. "Heck, even you do it at times."

"She's... I dunno, fragile. Kinda." Dora shrugged. "At least when she isn't pissed off."

"Oh?" Tai asked.

"Ask Marigold to tell you about it," Dora advised.

Tai pouted when Dora refused to tell her anymore about it. "Anyway," she changed the subject, "I thought we'd cosplay and pass out some yuricon fliers."

"No," Dora said as she saw the costime.

"Please?" Tai asked sweetly.

Dora shook her head, "No."

Tai gave her the puppy dog eyes look.

"Oh, all right," Dora conceded.

"Yay!" Tai smiled, looking forward to seeing Dora in the dress while she would be wearing a tuxedo. Gotta play up those butch/femme images, even though they often flipped in the sack.

"But you are going to owe me for this," Dora added.

"I'll look forward to it," Tai winked saucilly.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Hannelore would willingly admit she was a bit odd. How could she not be, raised by a mad scientist and a evil corporate shark? Mind you, she loved her mom and dad, but she was also well aware of how strange they were. So that was why she decided to move into a ordinary apartment building and try to make some normal friends.

Though one wondered how 'normal' they were. Still, compaired to her family they were practically the Bradys. Anyway, meeting Martin and the others had enriched her life a reat deal, as well as leading her to meeting Marigold and discovering anime and manga.

"That was fun," Marigold noted as she flipped through a copy of a Magical Love Gentleman dojin. They had bought two copies, of course, one each. Not that she thought Marigold was contaminated or anything, but...

Hannelore firmly reigned in those impulses too. She was obsessive compulsive and had a germ phobia. These conditions had a effect on her life, but she did her best to keep it as background noise. " thought it was charming," she agreed brightly.

Marigold smiled wryly, "Who knew my lending you Magical Love Gentleman would spark such a love of yaoi?"

Hannelore blushed. "It's a good book!" she protested.

"You just like it for the gay sex," Marigold teased.

Hannelore fought back another blush. To be honest, she found the idea of actual sex to be rather disgusting... but reading about it didn't bother her, oddly. Especially yaoi, which dealt as much with romance and the build up as actual sex. Yuri, interestingly, seemed similar and she was looking forward into reading that too.

"Do you think we can head back?" Hannelore said reluctantly. "We're carrying a lot of stuff and my arms are getting tired."

"Sorry," Marigold was instantly apologetic, "I forgot you're not used to cons. I arranged with some friends to share a room at a local hotel for the con.. we could drop the stuff off then come back for a bit?"

"That sounds good," Hannelore agreed.

Returning to the con they saw two women running by, wearing shorts and t-shirts. "Damn, Combat Athletes cosaplay," Marigold noted.

"That was cosplay?" Hannelore had to ask.

"The hair colors were a hint," Marigold added. "In fact it's one of the yuri series Tai will be showing in her video room."

"I'll look forward to it," Hannelore agreed.

To be continued...

Notes: You know, it's VERY VERY tough to try to get into Hannelore's head-space. It doesn't help that we rarely get anything from her POV over in Questionable Content. Still, tried and hopefully it doesn't sound too horribly out of character.

One SLIGHT advantage of my faffing about so long with this story, is that QC has actually developed into having a yuri couple. So I worked Dora in with Tai. Heh.


End file.
